Topic Notification

CHRISTINE JORGENSEN REVEALS

New York: J Records, [1958]. First Edition. 33 & 1/3 RPM LP album, no. TC 2007. Vinyl near fine, in intact but worn paper sleeve with tears to edges. Album cover very good, with moderate scuffing and bumping to edges and corners. Very good. Item #23804

Julius "Nipsey" Russell's interview with Christine Jorgensen, pioneering trans celebrity and "the most publicized, most controversial and interesting personality of this generation," recorded in 1957 at the height of her worldwide fame.

After serving in the Army during World War II, Jorgensen began the process of gender transition, which at the time required extensive research and travel to Scandinavia for medical consultation. Upon her return from Copenhagen, Jorgensen was greeted as both star and curiosity: her arrival announced on the front page of the New York Daily News; the subject of sensationalist headlines, jokes, and numerous thinly-disguised exploitative pulp novels and films based on her life; but also a guest on the Dick Cavett Show, a professional touring speaker advocating for trans rights, and a performer with minor stage success and a nightclub act through the 1970s and '80s. In June 2019 -- thirty years after her death -- Jorgensen's name was among the first 50 honorees added to the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument.

This scarce LP, the basis for an award-winning 2005 stage recreation, is often referred to as her only recorded interview; though this is not strictly accurate, as she spoke to numerous radio and television presenters, this is the only officially produced and released interview with Christine Jorgensen, once known as the most famous woman in the world.